Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has pulled out of next month’s season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London as he recovers from back surgery.

The third-ranked Murray says in a statement on the ATP website that “I’m really disappointed not to be playing this year, I love playing in front of my home crowd.”

Murray had an operation on his long-standing back problem last month and was always likely to miss the November 4-11 event, which features the world’s top eight singles players.

He’s competed in the last five finals, and reached the semi-finals twice.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer are the three players to have qualified with four weeks remaining in the season.